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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. fall — to drop
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bore — to tire
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. content — happy
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. stem — to come from
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. kid — to tease
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. bore — to drill
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. fall — the season
  16. pitch — completely
  17. cap — of ice
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cap — a hat
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. content — the amount
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. cap — a lid

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com